Ni-gun game against Rakuten on August 1: Kazuma Okamoto got the start at third and batted fifth. He went 2-for-5 with two RBI, including a solo home run off Tomohiro Anraku in the 2nd inning. The home run was the first of his career. Source: Nikkan Sports 8/1/2015

Shuichi Murata's home run at Tokyo Dome on July 31 was the franchise's 2,121st at the stadium. Shinnosuke Abe leads all Yomiuri players with 193 home runs at Tokyo Dome, followed by Yoshinobu Takahashi with 175 and Hideki Matsui with 146. Source: Nikkan Sports 8/1/2015

Tokyo Dome opened in 1988. The Giants recorded their 1,000th Tokyo Dome victory on July 31. It was their 1,696th game at the dome. Their first Tokyo Dome victory came in their second game at the stadium on April 9, 1988. Source: Sponichi 8/1/2015 ... Through July 31, the Giants were 1,000-669-27 at Tokyo Dome. Under Tatsunori Hara, they are 448-262-21 at Tokyo Dome. Source: Nikkan Sports 8/1/2015

Hanshin Tigers

Seung-Hwan Oh recorded his thirtieth save of the season on July 31 and became the first foreign pitcher to save thirty games in each of his first two years in the NPB. Three other foreign pitchers have recorded consecutive thirty save seasons, but not in their first two years in the NPB. They are: Rodney Pedraza (thirty-five in 2000, thirty-four in 2001), Marc Kroon (thirty-one in 2007, forty-one in 2008), and Chang-Yong Lim (thirty-five saves in 2010, thirty-two saves in 2011). Source: Nikkan Sports 8/1/2015

Chunichi Dragons

The Dragons dropped their game against the Giants on July 31 and extended their losing streak to seven games. It was their first seven-game losing streak since 2002. Source: Nikkan Sports 8/1/2015 ... The Dragons lost against on August 1 and are in the middle of their first eight-game losing streak since August 1994. Source: Nikkan Sports 8/1/2015, Sports Hochi 8/1/2015

Daisuke Yamai (37) earned his international FA option today with nine years of service time on the active roster. "Right now, I need to think more about making my pitches than [the option]," said Yamai to reporters.

Yoshiyuki Kamei recorded the fifth walk-off home run of his career on July 29 and moved into a fifth place tie on the franchise's all-time list with five other players: Tatsunori Hara, Kazuhiro Kiyohara, Hideki Matsui, Hayato Sakamoto, and Shinnosuke Abe. Source: Sponichi 7/30/2015, Sanspo 7/30/2015

Yutaka Wada recorded his 250th managerial victory on July 29 against Chunichi. The 250 wins is good for ninth most in franchise history. Source: Sanspo 7/30/2015

Chunichi Dragons

Ni-gun game against Orix on July 30: Masahiro Yamamoto started the game and gave up a run over six innings of work. He faced twenty-three hitters, threw eighty-three pitches, allowed seven hits, walked none, struck out one, and topped out at 133km/h. Source: Daily Sports 7/30/2015

Yakult Swallows

Tetsuto Yamada recorded his tenth home run in the month of July on the 29th and joined Toru Sugiura (ten in May 1985) and Akinori Iwamura (eleven in June and August 2004 and twelve in August 2006) as the only Japanese players in franchise history to hit at least ten home runs in one month. He is the first to accomplish the feat in franchise history as a right-handed hitter. Source: Sanspo 7/30/2015 ... Yamada recorded the fortieth modasho of his career, tenth of the current season, on July 29. Source: Sponichi 7/30/2015

Hirokazu Ibata was not available to play on July 28 because he was not feeling well. Source: Sanspo 7/28/2015

Hanshin Tigers

Shintaro Fujinami could make his next start on six days of rest against Yakult at Koshien on July 31. Source: Sanspo 7/28/2015

Randy Messenger's next start will most likely come on five days of rest against Yakult at Koshien on August 1. Source: Sanspo 7/28/2015

Through July 27, Minoru Iwata was 3-2 with 2.13 ERA in ten games at Nagoya Dome over his career. Source: Sanspo 7/28/2015

General manager Katsuhiro Nakamura will be heading to the United States on July 28 to check on talent for the 2016 season. Nakamura told reporters he will most likely be checking on relievers and position players with pop that can play third or the outfield. Source: Sanspo 7/28/2015 ... Among names on their list of relievers: Marcos Mateo, Jairo Asencio, Jumbo Diaz, and Jon Velasquez. The Tigers could be looking for an arm in case Seung-Hwan Oh does not return next year. Source: Sponichi 7/28/2015, Sponichi 7/28/2015

Chunichi Dragons

Rafael Perez and Drew Naylor could make their debuts during the Yomiuri series that begins on July 31. Source: Sponichi 7/28/2015

Yokohama Bay Stars

The Bay Stars sent personnel to the United States to check on field conditions at MLB stadiums because they interested in replacing the turf at Yokohama Stadium with natural grass. Staff from the Bay Stars and Yokohma Stadium visited the United States between July 4 and 12 and studied stadiums belonging to the Diamondbacks, Astros, Marlins, and Mariners. Source: Sanspo 7/28/2015

Yakult Swallows

The Swallows will most likely give starters at least seven days of rest over the next few weeks. The core starting rotation could include Yasuhiro Ogawa, Masanori Ishikawa, Nagisa Arakaki, Yoshihisa Naruse, and Hirofumi Yamanaka. Other pitchers that need extra rest or have yet to nail down a spot in the rotation, like Shohei Tateyama, Taichi Ishiyama, and Masato Furuno, would get spot starts to fill the gaps. They are also planning to go with eight relievers to offset the workload for each pitcher. The Swallows play thirty-three of their next thirty-six games at outdoor stadiums, including twenty-six straight between August 11 and September 10. Source: Sanspo 7/28/2015 ... The Swallows do not want to work their pitching staff too hard down the stretch during the hot summer. They would like to give starters seven days of rest and go with eight relievers. The base rotation could include Ogawa, Ishikawa, and Arakaki. Tateyama could pitch on ten days of rest because he is coming off an injury. Pitchers like Yamanaka, Naruse, Ishiyama, and Furuno could compete for starts to fill the gaps. Source: Sponichi 7/28/2015